The club's new quad
Power to the People!
As you've been pulling your boat off the beach you have probably noticed the latest addition to the club's equipment... A quad!
The quad, or 'All Terrain Vehicle' (ATV) to give it its proper title, now belongs to the club after having been bought at auction by Broadstairs SC member, and former Royal Temple Commodore, John Barratt.
Our "Yamaha Kodiak 400" is about 6 years old, but had never been used at all before we got it. It was acquired to assist in launching and recovering not only the patrol boats, but all members boats when they need the help. It can't tow the patrol boats up the soft sand by itself, but it certainly makes the whole job much easier!
For the technically minded among you, it has a 401cc 4 stroke engine with a single over head cam and electric start, a 4 gallon fuel tank and boasts 6.3" suspension travel at the back and 7.1" at the front. It's switchable between 2 and 4 wheel drive, has high and low range gearing and an automatic transmission. For pulling boats on the sand it will probably stay in 4wd for most of the time, but the auto gearshift means the rider can concentrate on the tow and not have to worry about changing gears or balancing the clutch and so makes it much easier and safer to use.
For those not so technically minded, it's dark green and has knobbly tires.
Any member over 25 should be able to drive it, but we aim to keep the drivers to a minimum. As getting onto the harbour from the boat park means driving on Harbour Street, the ATV is registered for road use and as a result, we are having to get it MOT'ed and taxed.
